Eurovision Song Contest to be shown live on giant screen in Helsinki

Presenters chosen for TV coverage

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The Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Helsinki in the middle of May, will be seen and felt around the Finnish capital from the beginning of the month.
      Key locations are Senate Square, and the Narinkkatori square outside the new Kamppi Center shopping mall.
      Those who want to experience the event in a crowd, but cannot get tickets to the semifinals and the finals in the Helsinki Arena where it will be held, will be able to watch it live in the Senate Square. Other music events will also be arranged there.
     
At the Kamppi Center, companies helping sponsor the event will set up booths.
      A record 42 countries will take part in this year's competition. The City of Helsinki expects delegations from the countries performing, as well as hundreds of journalists, and plenty of Finnish and foreign tourists.
     
On Tuesday, the presenters of the Eurovision event were officially announced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, so ending speculation that had been rife on message boards and in the media.
      The pair who were chosen for the job are Mikko Leppilampi and Jaana Pelkonen.
      According to YLE's Radio Suomi programming director Ville Vilén, factors influencing the choice included television experience, presentation skill, and "star quality".
      The final decision was made on Monday evening.
     
Leppilampi, a singer and actor, attended high school in Canada. The 28-year-old served as the announcer of the opening of the Finnish EU Presidency in Brussels last summer.
      Jaana Pelkonen, 30, has been an announcer in several television programmes. Her selection was widely anticipated.
      The two, who have not previously worked together, will preside over a total of eight events: in addition to the semifinals (May 10th) and the finals (May 12th) they will be the MCs for six advance shows.
      Finland is hosting the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest after the shock win in Athens last year by monster heavy rock band Lordi.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki Arena to welcome 2007 Eurovision Song Contest (22.6.2006)

Links:
  Eurovision Song Contest (Wikipedia)
  YLE: Eurovision pages

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